Some sort of stir-fry

11Dec08

Tentative pre-planning of our next European holiday has brought back wonderful memories of us travelling in the winter time. In a land that is or until recently, use to be perpetually blessed by sunlight and hot, muggy evenings, I miss walking through snow ladened streets with fog steaming out of me with every step. I remember glancing at Nicholas and behind me, were the roaring mountains of Zakopane. The trees faraway were topped with a fresh cream of powder and the icicles seemed to ethereally melt with the sun. The memories seem to have taken a life of their own as we now turn to visiting Scandinavia for the first time in our lives. Even though it will be summer, it will be so inspiring to walk the streets of Stockholm and spend hours in an Icelandic thermal lagoon. The thought gives me shivers and it’s no wonder that after a day of work, I felt like some sort of pseudo-European inspired dinner.

I’m going to make a beef peppercorn stir-fry with potato soup.

Nicholas looked at me quizzically but I knew I was onto a winner. The Asian-inspired beef peppercorn with beef stir fry strips in an oyster, cracked black peppercorn and cherry tomato sauce served on a hotbed of jasmine rice had a great balance between the Australian humidity and my European nostalgia. At the same time, the creamy potato and leek soup on buttered sourdough bread was enough to transport me to old town Warsaw again.

Beef Stir Fry in Black Peppercorn Oyster Sauce
500g beef ’stiry fry’ strips
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tbsp oyster sauce
10 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp freshly cracked black peppercorn
5 spring onions, diced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
4 cherry tomatoes, blanched, seeded and diced
Fresh coriander
Salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, boil the carrots and blanch the cherry tomatoes. After 30 seconds, remove the cherry tomatoes and peel, seed and dice them. Let the carrots boil gently until tender

Heat a skillet with the oil until very hot. Toss the beef strips, garlic and peppercorns and stir-fry for about 4-5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the spring onions for a minute whilst continually stir frying.

Add the chicken stock, oyster sauce, cherry tomatoes and coriander and allow the flavours to infuse and the sauce to thicken for 2 minutes. Dice the carrots and add it to the beef. Cover the skillet and allow everything to simmer for a few minutes.

Serve immediately on jasmine rice or with some bread.

For the potato soup, I tried Bea’s recipe (albeit, without salmon) and it was exquisite. Unfortunately, there was no sage or bay leaves lying around so I added coriander leaves instead which gave a lovely kick.

Nicholas’ Watermelon Juice

1/4 watermelon
1 cup of water
1 punnet fresh strawberries
Half a handful of cherries
Some ice

In a blender, mix all ingredients until a smooth and well-blended texture is achieved. Serve fresh.

And so we had our decadent dinner picnic on the floor of our Sydney apartment, dreaming of Icelandic scenescapes.

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Tags: Beef, Cooking, Food, Juice, Life, Stir Fry